Sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers

Description

In the annual celebration of the printed word, the 46th California International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to San Francisco on Friday, February 15, through Sunday, February 17, 2013 at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco.

Sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the three-day event is the world’s largest antiquarian book fair, offering something for book lovers and collectors of all stripes. More than 220 booksellers from the United States and around the globe will share their collections and treasures including books, manuscripts, maps and other types of printed materials such as incunabula, fine bindings, children’s and illustrated books, ephemera and more. Fascinating antiquarian books covering all types of subjects, such as law, architecture, cookery, history, science, politics and many more will be available to peruse and purchase.

This year’s Book Fair will include a special focus on Asian books, manuscripts and artifacts, including seminars and an extraordinary exhibit of materials created just for the Fair. The Asian exhibit will offer a sampling of Chinese, Japanese and Korean imprints, manuscripts, graphics and objects dating from the eighth century into the twentieth from the rare book room of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library of the University of California, Berkeley - the second largest academic collection of East Asian materials in North America.

Saturday, February 16:1:00 pm: Talk: Speaker – Nick Wilding Noted Galileo expert Nick Wilding will give a presentation about his research into a recent spate of forgeries and sophistications related to Massimo De Caro, who is currently being tried for massive thefts from the Girolamini Library in Naples. He will display his evidence deauthenticating several Galileo copies, which recently emerged on the market and in libraries, most notably the Sidereus Nuncius, and discuss the role new technologies played in producing and uncovering these forgeries.

3:00 pm: Seminar: Speaker – Yuming HePresented by: the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at the University of California at Berkeley and the Asia Society Northern California, a leading global and pan Asian organization Seminar features Yuming He Ph.D, author of Home and the World, a book on the printed works of the Ming dynasty. Other topics will include the relationship between text and illustration in sixteenth and seventeenth century China, commercial imprints, and Japanese historical maps from the perspective of a Western collector. This will coincide with a selection in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library’s Special Exhibit. Additional panelists to be announced.

Seminar followed by an invitation-only reception in the Special Exhibits area from 4-6pm

Sunday, February 17:12:00 pm: Seminar:Book Collecting 101 Presented by Vic Zoschak – Topics discussed to include: What to collect and collecting strategies; What is a "first edition"; How to judge a book's condition; Bookish terms and jargon; Where to buy books and find additional information.

12:45 pm: Seminar: What’s This Book Worth? Presented by Vic Zoschak – During this period, two frequently proferred questions will be addressed by one of our long-time ABAA members: 1. "I have this old book. Is it worth anything?" And 2. "I have this rare book. What's it worth?" Expanding on the context of these two questions, he will discuss the primary four factors that give books commercial and monetary value. Finally, strategies and venues for selling books will be offered, as well as when and how to get books professionally appraised.

1:30 – 3:00 pm: Seminar:Discovery Day – Discovery Day is open to the public, free with paid admission. Exhibitors will offer interested individuals an opportunity to receive free appraisals on up to three books. Appraisals are limited to a first come, first served basis –within the scheduled times.